On February 14th 1929, the notorious American gangster, Al Capone, sent four of his henchmen into a Chicago garage with guns blazing. Seven members of an opposing gang were murdered in what became known as the St Valentine’s Day Massacre. That same day in Fiji 84 years later – which is normally dedicated to a celebration of romance – may also spell the demise of a string of local political leaders. Because as things stand, they won’t just be tormented by the usual pressure to buy flowers or cards for their spouses or partners. February 14th is the deadline for them to meet undoubtedly the strictest condition the Bainimarama Government has set for parties wanting to contest the 2014 election.

By the end of Valentine’s Day, the sixteen existing political parties in Fiji have to come up with five thousand registered members, plus their five party executives, and the princely sum of $5005 – a dollar for each person – or they’ll be struck off the current party register. Even if they can raise the numbers, there’s an extra hurdle in the requirement for their party membership to be spread across the nation – 2000 in the Central Division, 1750 in the Western Division, 1,000 in the Northern Division and 250 members from the Eastern Division. The parties have a 28 day deadline to achieve all of this starting Friday. The clock is ticking away. And as the enormity of the challenge dawns on them, their leaders are aghast and screaming “stitch-up” in the local and overseas media.

Yes it’s tough. As the critics have it, unreasonably so. Yet amidst all the gnashing of teeth, one important consideration has been ignored; that there is nothing to stop the leaders of these parties from winding up their existing structures on Valentine’s Day and starting all over again. They can simply allow themselves to be deregistered and regroup down the track without having to be bound by the 28-day rule.

Why would they be remotely interested in doing this? Because all of these parties are personality based. They revolve around a brace of national figures who are well known – some might say too well known – and whose faces are arguably far more important than their organisations. In any event, those party organisations are in a state of flux after six years of being excluded from the process and in some cases, are in crisis. So why not start again with a clean slate? Why be bound by the 28-day rule? Why not let the deadline pass, dissolve, regroup and then rebuild either singly or in coalition with others? Form new parties and meet the required membership rules in a much more leisurely and considered fashion. As they wage war on the Political Parties Decree, it’s worth examining the challenges each of the existing organisations now face.

SDL: Soqosoqo Dua Vata Ni Lewenivanua: The SDL is gutted by the provisions of this decree. For a start, its name has been declared illegal because every party henceforth must have an English language appellation. Under normal circumstances, the SDL might have had a real chance of getting the 5000 members required to register by February 14th because of all the existing parties, it alone arguably has a truly national geographical spread. Yet it faces several added burdens. The SDL founder and leader, deposed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, is serving a year-long jail term for corruption. So he’s automatically excluded from standing next year by the Decree’s provision banning anyone convicted in the past five years of an offence carrying a jail sentence of six months or more.

The SDL now claims to be a multiracial party but as its name suggests, it is almost exclusively i’Taukei. In its current form, can it meet the test of being non discriminatory and respond to the needs of all Fijians, as the law now requires? Probably not – at least in the public mind – given the discriminatory policies it pursued in government that contributed directly to Voreqe Bainimarama removing it in 2006. Now that we know that Laisenia Qarase is barred by law from making a comeback, who could lead the SDL into the election, or at least the party that is now required by law to be re-named and represent the interests of all Fijians?

Two names seem to be at the fore at the present time -Ratu Jone Kubuabola – the brother of the Foreign Minister – and Dr Tupeni Baba, the academic and former Labour Party politician who’s astonished the country with his political transformation over the years. Dr Baba was a member of the Bavadra Government that was removed by Sitiveni Rabuka in the coup of 1987. Back then – with his Labour colleagues – he was committed to a multiracial agenda for Fiji. But after falling out with Dr Bavadra’s ultimate successor, Mahendra Chaudhry, Baba did a complete about face. He’s embraced the nationalist cause and – to the dismay of many former colleagues and supporters – now sits at the apex of indigenous politics. The less charitable view is that Baba is an opportunist who turned to the SDL after Chaudhry froze him out. The more charitable view is that Chaudhry’s unlovely personality and uncompromising control of Labour drove Baba into the arms of the nationalists in the SDL.

The problem for the SDL is that Baba is hardly charismatic and those around him are virtual unknowns. Yet at the apex of the party as its patron is someone who is both charismatic and at the apex of the vanua – the Roko Tui Dreketi , Ro Teimumu Kepa. Ro Teimumu is head of the Burebasaga confederacy – one of the three main indigenous groupings – and was a minister in Laisenia Qarase’s cabinet. So she is high born, well connected and politically experienced. At the present time, she is arguably the most potent opposition in the vanua to the Bainimarama Government. At the head of a reborn, renamed, ostensibly multiracial party, she could be a formidable force if she can overcome her less attractive political attributes. She horrified many Fijians last year with her warning of “racial calamity” if the chiefs were ignored. And she has been strongly identified with the nationalist cause- which will deter many non-indigenous people from supporting her – as well as the unsuccessful campaign to declare Fiji a Christian state. But someone definitely to watch.

The Fiji Labour Party: Of all the existing opposition parties, Labour is most identified with one person, the wily Mahendra Chaudhry, who was Fiji’s first Indo-Fijian prime minister until he was removed in the George Speight coup of 2000. As Labour’s General Secretary, Chaudhry rules the party with an iron fist and broaches no dissent. The style is old-fashioned socialism, authoritarian and unyielding, and there are a string of political figures who’ve exited Labour for daring to question Chaudhry’s authority. They include not only the aforementioned Dr Baba but also traditional Labour figures of the stature of Krishna Datt and most bitter of all, the recent falling out between Chaudhry and Felix Anthony, the head of the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC).

Both men now loathe each other and trade insults at every turn, Anthony accusing his former close associate of being a dictator and Chaudhry accusing the feisty union leader of being a traitor to the workers’ cause. Chaudhry’s abrasive son, Rajendra, has fought some of this battle by proxy, amusing television viewer last year with his description of Felix Anthony as a “Chihuahua” and a “howling banshee”. Yet the underlying problem of this momentous falling out is that the labour movement – not to mention the entire left faction in Fijian politics – has suffered a momentous and highly damaging split. Anthony and his union colleagues at the FTUC have broken away to form what they’ve dubbed the Worker’s Party. But where do ordinary workers now go to safeguard their interests, faced with this slanging match between once close allies? What happened to the old song “Solidarity for Ever”? The classic political maximum is that disunity is death. So the longer this schism on the left continues the less likely these titans are to get anywhere in 2014, irrespective of the hurdles they now face.

For Chaudhry – with his main powerbase among sugar cane growers in the west – the Political Parties Decree is a disaster. Not only does he have to gain substantial members all over the country in the next 28 days but his opponents are convinced that he will also have great difficulty meeting certain other provisions of the decree. The most glaring of these is the requirement that any political officer bearer or candidate must make a declaration of all income and assets – both in Fiji and abroad – on behalf of themselves, their spouses and their children.

Chaudhry has already been exposed for having large sums in personal bank accounts in Australia that allegedly came from Indian donors for the Labour cause. He’s currently facing charges in the courts of violating Fijian currency laws. Will he really be keen to declare his assets in Australia plus the land holdings he is said to have acquired in India through his family connections there? If funding for Labour has come from India or any other foreign source, that will also have to be declared and the arrangement halted. Because another provision of the decree is that no party funding can come from foreign governments or NGOs. And the limit that any individual can donate – foreign or Fijian – is pegged at $10,000.

Felix Anthony is also in a bind. His new Worker’s Party was launched in a blaze of publicity in Nadi last weekend, where he appeared on stage with Sharan Burrows, the former Australian union supremo who’s now strutting the global union stage. Was the global brotherhood planning to support Fiji’s Worker’s Party financially? Because it clearly won’t be doing so now.

Before the Decree was unveiled, Felix Anthony clearly saw himself as standing in 2014 as an MP. But the Decree stipulates that no elected or appointed official of a trade union can be a party member and hold office. Felix Anthony screamed loudly about this but then announced that while the Worker’s Party would press on, he would not be standing for parliament. He’s evidently far too financially comfortable where he is to resign as FTUC leader and risk standing for parliament next year and losing. Yet if Labour and the Worker’s Party are to have any viable future at all, the split between them has to be mended. They too should consider dissolving altogether and regrouping rather than pursuing a vendetta against each other based on personal animosity. Because leaving aside the decree, the way they are going they are toast.

The National Federation Party (NFP): This once great party – of the likes of A.D Patel and S.M Koya – is a pathetic shadow of its former self. What on earth is the point of its existence? It was once the principal opposition party in Fiji, the Indo-Fijian counterweight to the “Fijians” and “others” in Ratu Mara’s successive governments. Yet what is its raison d’etre now? Pramod Rae is fighting a losing battle against total irrelevance. The great quest of the old NFP was one, man, one vote. Yet now that it’s finally got it -thanks to Voreqe Bainimarama – Pramod Rae thunders on. He too has no hope of meeting the stipulation of being a national party representing the whole country. It’s high time for the NFP to dissolve and its existing members to seek political solace elsewhere. Times have changed but the NFP hasn’t.

The United People’s Party: Mick Beddoes seems a lovely bloke and given the pasting Grubsheet has given him, we were impressed when he warmly shook our hand when we recently ran into each other. Yet his mouth is infinitely bigger than his electoral base and he needs to realise it and give up. The UPP is Mick, a small rump of old “general voters” and people who also think Mick is a lovely bloke. Given that he has no hope of meeting the provisions of the Political Parties Decree, he should forge new alliances if he has any thought of staying in politics, which he must do otherwise he would shut up.

The “Perfectly Frank Party” aka the Great Unknown: And so to arguably the biggest unknown of all, just what will happen if Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama does what many expect him to do and morph into a civilian politician. Will he or won’t he? The whole nation is asking the question and we haven’t got a formal answer yet. But whatever the Government’s opponents say about the Political Parties Decree, they can’t say it is selective and doesn’t apply to everyone. Apart, of course. from the obvious fact that if Voreqe Bainimarama forms a political party and stands, he’s obviously not bound by the 28 day limit to register. That’s because he’s yet to declare his hand and says he won’t do so until after the new constitution is finalised. On every other provision of the Decree, the Prime Minister would have to live by the same rules as everyone else.

As the Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, made clear this week, any member of the RFMF who wants to stand as a candidate next year will have to resign their commission. This means that if Bainimarama runs, it will be as a civilian. He will leave the military and contest the election with a list of candidates who are all civilians and have to live or die politically at the hands of the Fijian people under the same rules as everyone else. None of them can hold any public office, they must declare all their assets and those of their families, take no money from companies, take no more than $10-thousand from any individual, no money from foreign governments or NGOs, no “freebies” or kickbacks, their personal finances laid bare. Yes, all those alleged millions in Chinese bank accounts included.

No-one can accuse the Prime Minister or his Attorney-General – the architect of this decree – of double standards. What’s good for the geese in the old parties is also good for the ducks who’ve worked hard over the past six years to produce the Bainimarama Revolution – to smash the racial paradigm of the past and introduce the first genuine parliamentary democracy in Fiji of one person, one vote, one value. The old parties can’t see it yet and neither can their overly excitable fans in Fiji and abroad. But come the election next year, every candidate – including Voreqe Bainimarama if he so chooses – will be presenting themselves for the nation to make its decision on the same footing – transparently, fairly and with precisely the same opportunity to win. Now that we have a level playing field at last, Fijian voters may not know precisely right now who is going to make up the competing teams. But get set for one hell of a game.

62 Comments

‘No-one can accuse the Prime Minister or his Attorney-General – the architect of this decree – of double standards.’

Well, actually they can Graham and it would appear that they already have in the form of a press releasing demanding ceratin disclosures of the PM and the AG.

No one has issues with transparency, fiscal and otherwise, but don’t you think its a bit odd that the taxpayers of Fiji still have no idea how much their hardworking leaders are actually paid? Or that they have not seen a set of accounts for government for the last 6 years?

Though it must said that if all of the current political players in Fiji were subjected to strict probity tests there wouldn’t be many left standing.

Graham. I’ve been a supporter of your crusade since you entered the scene to eliminate the wrongs of the past. But for reasons only you can explain; i feel you are now defending the indefensible actions of the regime and by that you are putting me and my family’s well-being and rights at real risk of not returning to us in Fiji. You speak of what is good about this Regime (very noble and I agree with some of them) but you ignore the wrongs which undeniably in my view, worse than any other elected government had practiced in the past. You tend not to see clearly that maybe two wrongs do not make a right and there is glaring proof of this today. I have real concerns as a citizen of Fiji with this Regime who commits the very “bad things” they are suppose to fix and eliminate. I am told you are ears to the Regime so why don’t you convince them to
1. Release the audited accounts of Government to the tax paying citizens. This will cover salaries of all members of public office (Fact) BTW All elected Government have a pass in this.
2. Remove all family members from public office – Nepotism (Fact). Elected Governments are also guilty of this but they did not overthrow elected Governments to clean Nepotism but then rampantly practices it.
3. Remove Decrees that trample the rights of Citizens (Fact)

There is a long list of very “bad things” this Regime is allegedly guilty of and what better way to convince them to prove to the citizens of Fiji otherwise.

I feel the Regime is sinking slowly but surely like the Titanic; a glorious ship in theory but a lemon in practice. The past few weeks are of urgent concern to the citizens of Fiji and the Regime is not only sinking slowly but rudderless and I observed with a standby captain who is not thinking straight. Rather than avoiding the ice bergs he is crashing into them one by one.

To end this message; I ask you “would you live in Australia under the SAME conditions we live in Fiji today?”

When the Australian parliament commenced,after federation, it was designed to have independents from all over the country. They would then select the most appropriate and skilful member to be PM. This person was voted for by the members based on merit and skill, not on the basis of return favours.

Now, we have the choice of cat crap (ALP) or dog crap (Lib). Great choice. Not.

The House could then select ministers from within. A skilful accountant could be treasurer and a skilful lawyer could be the attorney general. A skilful social worker could be minister of social services and a skilful medical professional could be minister for health.

Instead in Aus for example, we have an AG who never practised law. Why, because her party placed her in that position and not the parliament itself.

It has been rightly observed in recent times that Australian politics is at its lowest point since federation. I wish we could start over.

I have criticised articles on this site in the past. However, this one has merit.

VB wanted to unite Fiji. That is now happening. What is the common-ground? A hatred of ASK. If VB could learn to concede occasionally he has time to win the people. Perhaps a peace offering. The AG’s head on a platter delivered by Madam Shameem would be a nice gesture of good will.

Good analysis GD. I get it. I hope your readers absorb it. The time for vested interests are at at an end. MC and ASK are birds of a feather and I look forward to the day when these power tripping clowns are out of public sight.

And SDL have to confront historical and current reality. The truth hurts.

You may be in the employ of the PM, but you see the rot of the past clearer than anyone. I hope you see the rotten aspects of the current situation.

The current regime will not last forever. I just hope that the good people of Fiji choose their future camps on the basis of common thought and not on the basis of blind loyalty, whilst awaiting their day in the sun.

My sincere hope is that this new begining will encourage intelligent, right mided people to stand as independents. True leaders and not persons who hide in the safety of numbers with sychophants awaiting a reward like salivating dogs.

Well may we say God Save Frank, but nothing will save the Attorney General.

Graham, it must be said that the government execution of the plans was good. Yes, some flaws in handling the media and the opponents but overall very well planned! Military planning just like the coup but better… National plan with a vision! Brilliant execution.

You did not mention that all the voters are also registered now. Excellent strategy.. because no-one can cheat or use clever tactics to get the numbers needed because it can be easily verified. And for all those who have opposed the gov, they will have to put their money where their mouth is!! ha.. ha.. now show your support and allegiance to the opposition or risk the party to die out a painful death in 27 days! I really love this.. fascinating how everyone is running for cover!

Also the so-called NGO’s which are foreign supported cant do much too! I wonder what the A.I. office will think about this. Maybe this is too much transparency for A.I. to handle! How can there be so much demand for transparency!

I have said this before, this is the last chance for the oldies to do something. All I see is a new truly multicultural party emerging! God bless our country.. lets keep moving forward!!

As for all the opposition, unless they do something or there is a armed foreign intervention (Never going to happen..FLP and SDL dont have the money!!) nothing on this planet will be saving them!! Good bye to all the old politics.. Looking towards the new game players!!

Graham, the regime’s action has denied voters the right to choose which party or person they would want in Parliament – basically, we are now forced to vote for those who can meet the criteria – how can those who cannot muster the numbers stand for election – its not democracy – its dictatorship. Reverting to my earlier point, I am all for multi-racialism but I must have the right to vote for a party and person of my choice – why should I be told that I cant vote for Graham Davis because he does not have the numbers in all the four divisions? I am not interested in whether you have numbers in other divisions or your other party colleagues/candidates have numbers in other divisions – if I want you to represent me in Suva, I must have the right to vote for you – full stop! Why should you go around looking for numbers elsewhere to form a party?

To use your example, there would be nothing to stop Mr. Davis from standing as an individual to represent you in Suva. But if he wanted to form a party and enjoy the benefits of coalition, then the decree simply requires that this party – with the ability to win a high number of seats, especially in the Western and Central divisions – does not represent regional interests alone. Until the modifications of the decree are completed, we will not know how many seats there will be in Parliament, but let us use the draft constitution as an example – for the sake of argument. Of the 60 seats set aside for the voting districts, let’s say that 27 are apportioned to the Central Division. And let’s say that there was no requirement to raise support in all divisions and Mr. Davis forms the “Beautification of Suva” party. And let’s say that Mr. Davis’s party wins 20 of the 60 seats, and 2 of the 11 apportioned to the national vote. That would leave his party with 22 of 71 seats in the NATIONAL parliament. Well, if Mr. Davis’ main goal is to beautify Suva, then that’s great for those living in Suva, but a pretty poor deal for Fijians living elsewhere.

Now of course there is a large degree of hyperbole here, but it underscores the basic principle. Individuals can stand as such, and I have no doubt that some people like Mick Beddoes – unless he joins a larger party – will end up doing just that.

The new law deprives political parties and individuals of the following rights:
The right to be racist
The right to hide assets and liabilities
The right to be a trade unionist and a politician
The right to control the government as trade unions
The right to run with fewer than 5000 supporters.

Maybe we are heading for politics dominated by two or three parties with clear cut social and economic policies with no chance of coalitions of small parties with the resulting horse trading that goes on. Smal parties tend to dilute voter choice because ruling parties worry too much about pleasing coalition partners in order to keep power, rather than what the voters wanted.

Sorry, I have to bring this post here since FijiToday is engaging in censorship with Marc Edge, formerly of USP journalism, acting as chief censor. FijiToday was critical of government censors present in Fiji newsrooms, and is now doing a similar thing. Hypocrisy of the tallest order!

As you have probably guessed by now, his has to with the Graham Davis-Marc Edge saga which I have been following. From what I can see, at least Graham Davies made his pro-Bainimarama position clear, and is sticking with it.

This Marc Edge fellow says one thing and does another. I am shocked to learn that he lodged a complaint against the Fiji media with the government media tribunal. This is quite despicable and sinister on his part. It invalidates all his platitudes about media freedom and democracy.

If you judge Marc Edge by his actions, then his words are not worth toilet paper. One can’t claim to uphold media freedom and democracy while at the same time undermining them. It’s sheer hypocrisy.

Is this calibre of people teaching at USP? No wonder USP journalism students are so confused.

If the government is oppressing the media, then Marc Edge is aiding and abetting this process by using the media tribunal. Judging from events so far, if it suits his purpose, Marc Edge is happy to use this government and its mechanisms. He is equally happy to criticise this government when it suits him, more to divert attention from his failings at USP than anything else, in my view.

To me this Marc Edge fellow comes across as insincere, self-serving, unstable and an opportunist. He is tapping into the anti-government lobby by pretending to fight for their cause. The anti-government lobby is fighting to bring back the old un-democratic order. Many of those in the movement are ethno-nationalist, supremacists and racists pretending to be democrats.

I second Davis v. Edge. Mr Edge day by day is showing he is a hypocrite. He claims to be a journalism professor and defender of freedom. But he censors anything by Mr Davis that he does not want people to know about him. He claims to be against the Fijian Government but he runs to the Fijian Media Tribunal to try to intimidate Fijian reporters.
Shame on Fiji Today for allowing Mr Edge to censor Mr Davis.
Mr Davis, your piece in Saturday’s Fiji Sun was brilliant and lots of people have been talking about it. These are the people that count because they are here in Fiji.
Please keep up your columns as we need these to help understand what is really happening.
I cannot put my name on my comments because the position I hold does not allow this. But we admire you and your courage and not these anonymous cowards who use foul language to attack you because they really have nothing intelligent to say.

‘….This Marc Edge fellow says one thing and does another. I am shocked to learn that he lodged a complaint against the Fiji media with the government media tribunal. This is quite despicable and sinister on his part. It invalidates all his platitudes about media freedom and democracy….’

Quite apart from the fact that the whole Davis v Edge thing is getting quite boring – and Graham to his credit appears not to censor – how does making a complaint to the media tribunal become ‘..despicable and sinister…’ ? Wasn’t the tribunal set up to handle such complaints?

But this time the white hairy chested neighbourhood smart ass, slimy, know it all spoilt brat and boastful bajaru bully who thought was above the law and the law did not apply to him, runs to the police station complaining about someone else breaking the law.

And what does the stray mongrel down Fletcher Road Vauwaqa has to say about all this ” .my my Who TF is that bimbo…I thought the mongoose I was chasing was low…you’re fu@#ed man”

And folks the mongrell had the last words….and the spin masters..well they kept on spinning

The learned ‘professor’ sounds unhappy about Fiji’s ties with India and China. Nothing wrong with the whole world gravitating towards India and China, but when Fiji does it, Professor Ji gets his knickers in a twist.

I did not read in the article Professor Ji highlighting Australian and New Zealand hypocrisy in ignoring China’s human rights abuses while coming down hard on little Fiji.

If professor ji had his way, we would we always kowtow and beg and bow to Australia and New Zealand. This is the thinking and product of a colonised mind nurtured on too many Ausaid consultancies.

What kind of economist doesn’t the understand the basic concepts of diversification of risks and investments, and of fostering competition?

Same principles apply in diplomacy professor. May you should stick with economics rather than poke your nose in every subject under the sun and try and be an expert on everything. The result of this is poorly informed, half-baked articles.

When we are beholden only to Australia and NZ, they have a tendency to demean us. Maybe this is what Narsey wants?

Have you head of the term ‘leverage’ professor Ji?

That’s why I say USP is full of dead wood and phoney professors collecting high salaries at taxpayers’ expense.

Problem with Narsey is he writes off his head. His articles are not informed by literature, which is a sign of dumbing down and academic laziness.

Any academic worth his/her salt will cite literature. In this sense Narsey is not a true academic, although he would make damn good newspaper feature writer of populist articles of limited, if any value.

Hopefully you put wadan in his place. His arguments are stupid and simplistic – shocking coming from a professor.

Australia and NZ use aid as a leverage. why won’t Fiji play the same game using diplomacy? How come a professor can’t understand this? Wadan seems to equate aid with charity – how silly. Does he know boomerang aid?

Wadan must be trying to score more consultancies by currying favour with western pwoers.

The silly fool would like us to believe western powers are paragons of democracy when they have been behind coups, extrajudicial killings, and propping up dictatorship,all over the world. Their gift to the world is Al Qaeda and Osama and the world financial crisis.

Australia’s culpability in the Bougainville War is yet to be fully revealed. naive narsey wants us to believe these powers support democracy. They do – as long as it serves their purposes. Bainimarama is a ,saint compared to John Howard. Do not even mention Bush. Where is the balance in your writing professor? You won’t even make a good journalist, let alone a professor!

I feel sorry for students taught by ‘professors’ who have been indoctrinated by western powers and have become part part of the political economy of aid, tertiary education, consultancies etc, just like wadan.

Too many third grade professors at USP who can’t think critically or outside the box. Reflects on kind of graduates USP churns out.

Professor Narsey is clever enough to know what his funders want to hear, but not clever enough to hide the evidence of an ego as large as a house, and the selling out of academic integrity. Nor is he astute enough to see the loss of his own reputation with every fever driven, politically blinded diatribe he writes.

Yes but you left out that if the existing parties do choose to take the path of rebirth they will end up surrendering all assets to the state. That doesnt seem fair to force them to part with assets built over years and to start from scratch.

And why only 28 days for existing parties to register 5000 name? What possible purpose does that serve other than to make it as difficult as possible for existing parties to re-register? Why not give them the same time frame as the rest of the political parties or maybe even increas that time frame?

The Decree without a doubt will add alot of transparency but there are still parts of it that need to considered.

Just wondering if time is extended what effects will this have on our Election process. Can it be extended just a bit longer (say another 2 weeks – 1month extension) to accommodate all the reasons given by various parties?

Is it really necessary to have this ironed out by 28 days?

Sorry, I’m just new to all this.

I do understand the law has already ‘mentioned the due date’, but can this be changed by issuing another of those Decrees?

The existing parties have been claiming to have a broad-base support and I am sure they will have no problems in getting the 5k plus signatures…..the question their so called leaders should have asked..”…why only 5k….you regime guys are not as popular as you think or make out to be…..our parties will get 10k each…how’s that.?”

And the combine SDL/NFP/FLP/MIcki/ and the union goons = 50k….and that’s only 10% of the TOTAL registered voters (500K). The government has been generous about each party getting 5k signatures……why the problem then?????

Oh I see….its the assets question…ummm

Assets accumulated in proportion to income….is a worry????…got nowhere to hide your houses…
Or Gred “screw me union boys” Kearny of the ACTU will not be able to fund a certain party
…still spinning

I think the biggest fool in all this scheme of things is Dr Tupeni Baba. He does not realise that chaudhary has no where to go, has lost credibility big time, and is now trying to portray a “united front” with his traditional enemies. SDL in its own right is a credible force as compared to the other parasites. This marriage of convenience will come back to bite Dr Baba in the rear. Obviously he hasnt learnt his lesson from previous experiences with the turncoat chaudhary. My 2cents worth to Dr Baba would be to comply with the decree and register under a new name as required by the decree. (some other poster has suggested “Social Democratic League”). Consider steering away from the tainted Kepa and Samisoni. FLP will then die a natural death like NFP. The other major party for 2014 election will naturally be the one in the making now, Anthony and Urai, neither of them a PM material though. I am surprised Dr Baba that you failed to recognise that the current govt is trying to create a level playing field and getting rid of the crooks, but you chose to rub shoulders with those blood sucking leeches. You are a PM material honourable Dr, put the country first, not bloody chaudhary and his ulterior motives.

Joe,
Baba IS the biggest fool. A short sighted visionary but here’s the point:

Why do people still think that these are the only guys who can lead us through in this country…why man why!!?

Just because they have a degree in that or this or a masters in whatever….Do you really want any of the guys mentioned to lead or be part of running of this country…Do you want that doctor (edgees boss) and his boss….do you want Baba..did you want that dick head from ANU….do you want Wadan and I can go on and on ….people must understand that we don’t need these con artists….

In short, do you want these conniving con-artists, suckers for western handouts and people who can sell their souls (if ever they have one left) for Maccas and betray their fellow Fijians for a passport to ANZ, to represent you.

I have seen many bloggers on this site, who live on the bright side with brilliant ideas…people who have country agenda before self and not forming alliances and sleeping with each other.
These alliances are like getting the pimp and the prostitutes together to work as a cartel…yes a cartel where only the bread maker benefits.

Aah yes the bread maker….more on that later.

You know folks to date, the stray mongrel in Fletcher Road Vatuwaqa has got many predictions right and has seen many off….Edgee, Daya Nand, those watcher guys,MArk the Wart, Confused and the not so confused, to name a few.

A bit of a diplomatic standoff with the Samoan “plantation” Petelo and company, but the mongrel with his few chosen words did manage poo (diplomatic shoo) them away.

Chand, agree with you 100%. My reasoning is that I dont want this chor chaudhary to take refuge anywhere. He is now cornered, no where to go, and to his own advantage, decides to crawl in bed with his enemies. I did not expect Dr Baba to be so dumb. Cant wait for 14th feb. In the meantime I am enjoying watching these rats running around in a frenzy.

‘The exclusion of the President, Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers from the list of public officials begs explanation. They are the most public of public officers, and their exclusion can only be taken to mean that one or more of them will form a political party or stand as candidates in the 2014 Election. This is something the PM has previously denied and acceptance of the draft constitution would have made impossible.’ Crosbie Walsh, January 2013.

‘”Comrades!” [Squealer] cried. “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades,” cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, “surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?”’ George Orwell, Animal Farm, 1945

Strange but not surprising though that the colonialist Orwellian sword that was thrushed down our throats in high school allegedly reminding us of the dreaded commie boogies under our beds has resurfaced.
Yes, it isn’t surprising for such was the purpose. The shadowy communists/socialists and anyone who dared to oppose the great western way of life and thinking was a threat to all mankind. George Orwell reminded us of that.
For you all good for nothing people in the third world here is a gift for you and it is called democracy. And here is a dollar for the soft serve ice-cream. Only we can CHARTER your destiny and we will name our children such as a reminder.
Only now his graduate and master of deception has taken a leaf of the dusted novel to remind us of the boogie again……or has he??

A little bit of knowledge might help you direct your fire more accurately: George Orwell was one of the best-known anti-colonial, anti-imperialist writers of his generation. (See Shooting An Elephant, where the narrator/Eric Blair writes, “I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing… I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.”‘)

NFP needs to be VERY careful with ChoorDhry. If they have not learnt there lesson yet, they would be suckers for some big surprise. Choor is not even faithful to his wife. How can one expect him to be faithful to others????

We are working together – Chaudhry

Publish date/time: 22/01/2013 [14:55]

The Fiji Labour Party, SDL, United People’s Party and the National Federation Party, who could not see eye to eye on a number of issues in the past which resulted in public disagreements, are now working together as the United Front for a Democratic Fiji.

FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry said at the moment, the group is just looking at common issues, however, this group may develop further as they come closer to the elections.

When asked by Fijivillage on how Chaudhry can work with the same people and parties who he could not work with before, Mahendra Chaudhry had this to say.
Chaudhry has had many political and even some legal disputes with the parties in the past.

There is a fellow on c4.5 who goes by the name ‘Tattifala’, meaning person who is full of shit. But the real ‘Tatti aadmi’ is mahen pal chaudhry (not wadan narsey, although he comes close). In all his years as a politician mahen has achieved nothing for his people, let alone Fiji, because he always had his eye on his own interest. Politically mahen has achieved nothing substantive but financially this failed PM has done very well for himself and his family with $2m allegedly collected in name of poor and farmers diverted to his secret bank account.

Mahen is what Indians call is ‘bina pendhi ka lotta’ – meaning some who will switch sides when it suites his interests. He supported 2006 coup but is is now opposing it. What a chameleon.

“United stand, divided we fall”, best describes the hopeless future these expired, useless old men with no political record to share. Their only political gift to the nation is their individual contribution to Fiji’s 3 coups in 89,and 2000. It is their collective effort that resulted in Fiji misfortunes during those painful 20 years.

Surely you all haven’t forgotten those dark painful days have you? People should realize that these people are destined to create more coups if given a chance.

No one can blame Frank Bainimarama – he was not there among them.

Rather than debate about politicians or the elections, People should ask themselves, which of these men had the balls to give your kids free bus fares, or hired an international road contractors to give people international quality roads to the detriment of local contractors and backhand dealings.

Speaking of new roads, who was it – Mick, Chaudhry, Attar, Felix, Daniel, Qarase, Australia or New Zealand that completed the new Kings highway from Korovou to Ra?

The glamor of Democracy, politics and politicians has no appeal when you look at what they have achieved for each person in this country compared to what Bainimarama did since 2006. Let history be my witness.

Readers and contributors – to make the topic of Fiji politics and the important United Front for Democracy more informative, interesting and constructive, would you care to share you thoughts and analysis on which of these politician has served Fiji well.

Fiji was not a true democracy under Qarase, has never been a true democracy, except in a warped sense that allowed Qarase and AG Qoriniase Bale to sodomise democracy in a pretend democracy. Some people who are squealing now kept quite back then. Many who want the old order to return are really ethnonationalists and supremacists in democratic garb. They want ‘democracy’ returned because it provides a perfect cover to subjugate and discriminate, and is a means to power and privilege for an elite group adept at the old colonial practice of divide and rule.

To his credit, towards the end, Qarase did make genuine attempts to make multiparty government work, but Chaudhry became spanner in the works.Thse leaders have many diferences but one commonality is extreme self-interest, before national or people’s interest. Now that the damage has been done, they start working together.

Dan urai is out of the race fo a ticket to the 2014 election as his DUI case is in the courts. A man who is aspiring to be a national leader cannot even follow a simple rule which is the law of the land,”Dont drink and drive”.

I cant understand these academics. Dr Tupeni Baba said today that the SDL will comply with the decree and register their party and in the same breath says that they wont change their leader LQ. Well Dr Baba, this simply means that you will certainly be de-registered. I was backing you to be the next PM, but I withdraw that now. Why cant you save humiliation for yourself and your party by nominating an interim leader with the proviso that should LQ be cleared by the appelate court, he will take over the leadership. How hard is that? Can we really endorse you to be the next PM if you cant work out a simple solution to a minor issue?

Well Joe you should have made that decision years a go when that guy jumped ship…..you see Joe when a person as “smart” as Baba switches sides ( in hindi it is said “warming your arse on whoever lights the fire for you”), you move away…..and don’t worry about what Baba did to Mahen and vice versa (they’re together now aren’t they?). Does marriage of convenience ever last?

The bigger question is whether anyone would like to be in the baraat (wedding procession) or be associated with two known prostitutes.
One is also judged by the company he keeps.

Joe, I’m glad you’re on the right blog with people who live on the bright side.

What is there to discuss? You either comply or face de-registration, simple, isnt it? They call themselves UFDF (united front for a democratic fiji). Since when has a “foreign flower” become a top priority on your agenda? Why didnt you morons unite when the country was bleeding? When MC was taken hostage, LQ was being sworn in as PM, and when LQ was shafted MC was being sworn in as Finance Minister. What has changed so quickly?

It is a good joke isnt it? I cant stop laughing as I write. Ha ha ha !!!!!!!!

All you pro-regime bloggers. YOU have no reason not to hide behind fictitious names. Provide your real names and addresses so that when this crazy Regimet falls; you can stand beside them and we will give you your heroes a just legal and transparent trial.

A big joke is recent FLP Statement on ‘super-salaries’ of PM and AG.
Coming from FLP, it is bullshit.
What about mahen chaudhry’s ‘super-secret’ $2m bank account in Australia?
What about interim finance minister mahen approving Bainimarama’s ‘super-back pay’ of some 150k?
The hypocrisy from FLP is nauseating.
Utterly self-serving bunch consisting of father, his mistress and son running the show. They take us for fools.
FLP statement: “PM receives $267,000, AG $336,000…super salaries no former PM or AG has received”.
True, but nothing compared to mahen’s $2m-plus, one-off haul, eh Asha Lakhan?
Enquiries revel $2m loot was from monies collected in the name of Fiji’s coup victims.
Mahen secreted the money into his account.
No one would have known if not for investigative journalism by Victor Lal.
Yet, FLP media person Asha lakhan can pontificate with statements like: “The tax payer and people of Fiji are entitled to know the truth.” Yes, asha, they are also entitled to to know the truth about $2m stashed by Fiji’s Robin Hood, aka mahen.

FLP statement: “After all, there has been much rhetoric on transparency and accountability by the High Command of the interim government”. The man who made a career out of rhetoric on transparency and accountability is FLP Dictator and High Command, one mahen pal chauhdry. But he never practices it.
He defied party directive and appointed in-law Sachida as senator. Because of nepotism and mahen’s $2m stash, FLP is known as ‘Ali Baba & 40 thieves party’.
It is bloody hypocritical of FLP to ask regime ‘to clarify reports about Cabinet salaries being abnormally high’ before FLP clarifies exactly where $2m came from and how it ended in mahen’s pocket.
FLP statement: ‘So much for accountability and transparency from the AG and his PM – SO MUCH FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FROM FLP AND MAHEN CHAUDHRY. Clean you own backyard first Ms Lakhan.
FLP statement: Stories posted on the blogs claim that Bainimarama and Khaiyum are each drawing salaries in excess of $700k pa. with ‘whopping’ FNPF contribution of $112k per annum’!
Still can’t beat mahen’s ‘whopping’ one-off $2m windfall, can it Asha? And in Australian dollars too!

I am no regime supporter, but its time for Aunty Asha Lakhan, as part of the old guard, to move on. Her hypocrisy is unbearable.

Isa Concerned Citizen, I pity you, such a small mind, no vision, no broad outlook, just petty mindedness and bent on revenge. This is what will consume you, and Fiji as a country, you loser. It is because of mindsets like you that Fiji has been in shit street for 20-plus years. It will continue to wallow in shit if people like you have anything more to do with it.

Chaudhary has much more then 2 million in Australia and maybe India and NZ. 2 M was collected in India alone. How about what was collected in Aust, NZ, GB, Canada and USA, there are about 500 000 people with Fijian background in these 5 countries alone.

Chaudhry like to portray himself as victim of coups.
But in reality he has profited from coups – and handsomely so.
He portrayed himself as a victim.
He raised money in the name of other coup victims.
Then he kept money for himself – $AUD$2m confirmed, and possibly more from monies raised in Australia, NZ, GB, Canada, etc.

Conclusion:
Chadhury is not a coup victim.
Chaudhry is a coup profiteer.

I hope you will write an inside piece like you did on Yash Ghai and inform all of us why Father Kevin Barr was to be deported, for violating his work permit, and why the decision was reversed until December. Look forward to reading it.

There has been a lot of comment about the Fiji media from some people outside of Fiji. They make claims which show they are not even seeing or hearing the Fiji media.
I am looking at my Fiji newspapers from yesterday. The Fiji Times has the Father Barr case all over the front page and lots of comments from Father Barr on its front page. The Fiji Sun has a photo of a happy Father Barr and its main story is about the NFP and quoting the NFP president. On page 2 the Fiji Sun has more about Father Barr, the SDL, FLP and UPP.
The Fiji Sun also runs analysis, such as the very good pieces by Mr Davis. Mr Davis is the favourite of my friends too. We always talk about his columns after they are published. They help us understand events like problems with Mr Ghai and what he did.
My point though is those people overseas who criticise the media here are not seeing or hearing them.
Fiji is very different from what those who criticise from some other country think. The uninformed comments about the media are just an example of how uninformed the critics overseas are.
Those who criticise Fiji from Australia, New Zealand or even in England should come and see for themselves rather than continuing with their biased views from the past. They are out of touch.
Fiji is a much better place now than it was before 2006.

Dont these politicians hate transparency and accountability. Thus far, SDL and UPP have succumbed. NFP is trying hard to get 5000 signatures across the geographical spread and MC is trying hard to evade declaring his $2M, and aunty Asha wants a slice of that too. On the other hand, Felix and Krishna Datt are potential threats to FLP. Speaking of FLP, it actualy is a chaudhary dynasty party(CDP). Such a globally significant name, ie Labour Party, will unfortunately die a natural death in Fiji, like NFP, all because of a solitary scum of the earth. Thank God for this decree, it certainly is the best thing since sliced bread.

Ya, and today Rabuka and his beloved SVT Party that promoted an exclusive ethno-nationalist agenda – aided and abetted of course by the Methodist Church and the Great Council of Chiefs – has called it quits. Good riddance to the old Fiji.

Father Barr was fine as long as he was involved in activities, even government activities like the Wages Council, or the Charter, which did not involve party politics. His mistake was to be present very publicly at the launch of a new political party. Under the law, you can be involved in statutory or government bodies because they are exempt from work permit requirements. So if you work for Ministry of Finance. You don’t need a work permit. But party politics are different, and no one in any country in the world can get involved in politics on a work permit!

If he is so committed to Fiji then why has he not applied for Fiji citizenship all these years?

If the terms of his 30 year Work Permit says that he should not engage in politics, then why is he openly aligning himself with the political party Felix Anthony and his Union cronies are setting up?

He has until December 2014 (expiration of his work permit) to regularize his citizenship status in Fiji. If he does not, then he should be kicked out like the rest of them who come and abuse he condition of their work permit by openly engaging in partisan politics.

I think Father Barr forgot he was an Australian citizen here on a work permit when he was happily posing in the photo with Felix Anthony and Sharan Burrows celebrating the formation of the Workers Party.
I agree with Ms Kathy that if he really cared about Fiji he would have taken Fiji citizenship much earlier. It is only now that this problem has come up that Father Barr is talking about taking dual citizenship.

Yes, Barr has been here too long on a good thing that he took us all for granted.

He needed the shock treatment the PM gave him to realize that he cant have it both ways.

So now he tells us the reason he did not take up Fiji citizenship all these 30 or so years was because he wanted to keep his Aussie pension!

I thought Catholic priests are here to serve the people and NOT themselves?

He can easily go back to Aussie and continue his pension there.

He breached the terms of his permit by engaging in politics. In Australia and NZ if any Fiji citizen on a visitors permit actively engaged in politics, they would be deported immediately.

At least Barr has been given one last chance to regularize his status in Fiji. But I suspect come December 2013 when his permit expires he will shoot through to Australia and join the likes of Brij Lal and others in condemning Fiji to the media there.

The anti people and Australian and New Zealand media are so biased against everything in the new Fiji that they will swallow anything people like Brij Lal will serve them. His latest claims about Father Barr highlighted on some of the anti bloggers are a very good example of this.
Mr Lal is an Australian academic living in Australia.
He has not lived or worked in Fiji for a quarter of a century the Fiji Sun said.. The only reason Radio Australia go to him all the time is because he parrots the views they want to hear.
Why don’t they interview someone in Fiji like Mr Davis for a change? The reason is Mr Davis will not say what they want to hear but will instead tell the truth.
Somebody should do a survey of how much time Mr Lal gets on Radio Australia compared to people who are in Fiji and will tell the truth about the real situation and how it is much better than before 2006.
I really don’t know how the Government can be accused of censorship when they let Radio Australia broadcast 24/7 in Fiji and air the biased views of out of touch people from the past like Mr Lal.

It is alarming to note that the new SDL(social democratic liberal party) is in full flight just to be on the Constituent Assembly. There is absolutely no evidence of you lot being either democratic or liberal in the past, unless you have reformed overnight. If your intention is to throw a spanner in the works, may I remind you that your govt was deposed in 2006, and it wont take much to relieve you of your CA duties either. A more suitable option for the PM would be to invite certain members of your party personally. The likes of Kepa and Samisoni are definitely a no go zone, as is Beddoes, who will soon announce his SDL membership. Oh, and dont forget to choose a new leader too otherwise you will get a one liner in the mail saying:

“We regret to advise you that your application for registration has been declined due to non conformance.”

Politics is a dirty game, as the saying goes. Mick Beddoes always claimed to represent general voters throughout Fiji. However, this is an obvious lie because under the new political party rules we find out that:-

1. He or UPP does not have the support of 5,000 members throughout Fiji.
2. He or UPP does not have $5000 for the registration fees.
3. His UPP executives will not invest their personal finance for their political cause or the people they claim to represent.

What Does Mick Beddoes do?

1. As master and commander of United Peoples Party, Mick cunningly stages the end of UPP. Rather than defend general voters interest and all that they stand for to the very end, he sabotages his own party.

While the ship is sinking – Captain Mick Beddoes jumps off.

2. Beckoned by the smell of opportunity, Mick knows that the two leaders at SDL – Jone and Tupeni are fairly soft characters for Fiji’s fiery political scene and is not match from Frank Bainimarama. He rubs his hands in joy at the opportunity to one day become leader of this SDL tribe.

Today, Fiji Sun herald’s Mick Beddoes grand appearance on board the SDL ship – daggers in both hands and ready to kill off his weak masters.

3. Now, like a pirate, he will try to usurp the party leadership. He will maneuver his way up like a snake, sing the SDL war cry, and take on the Fiji Government.

4. In summary, Mick Beddoes does not have a conscience. Despite SDL being the cause of Fiji’s troubles from 2000 to 2006, i mean they ruined the country with corruption, racism and the lot. For heavens sake, the leader and former Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase has been Jailed for corruption and many other SDL leaders are in trouble for similar crimes. As a matter of principal, rather than defend his political ideology if he has one, Mick Beddoes jumps into bed with Fiji most corrupt political party.

Readers, what does this say about Mick Beddoes as a trustworthy politician. Would you trust him?

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ABOUT GRUBSHEET

Grubsheet Feejee is the blogsite of Graham Davis, a dual Fijian-Australian national working as a media and communications specialist in both countries and in other parts of the Asia Pacific.

Graham has had a four decade-long career in the mainstream media in Britain, Australia and Fiji. He has reported for the BBC, ABC, SBS and the Nine and Seven Networks and has written for a range of newspapers and magazines in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. His multiple awards include Walkley and Logie Awards in Australia and a New York Festivals Medal in the United States.

More recently, Graham has been a consultant to the GeoPolitical Solutions division of the global communications company, Qorvis-MSLGROUP, which represents a range of sovereign clients around the world. Part of his brief is to assist the Fijian Government with its program to introduce the first genuine democracy in the nation’s history in 2014.

Graham is broadly supportive of the Bainimarama Government's reform agenda but invites comments from people of all political persuasions. Please don't label your return volley "anonymous". Give yourself a name or pseudonym so that readers can track your progress over time.

Many of these postings have appeared in mainstream newspapers such as The Australian and the Fiji Sun – where Graham has been a columnist - and on other websites, including newmatilda.com and Pacific Scoop NZ.

Feejee is the original name for Fiji - a derivative of the indigenous Viti and the Tongan Fisi - and was widely used until the late 19th century.